Political Quotes

“He is a man not without a sense of humor, also. The second time I guess I had an engagement with General Yeager was the very first time I was able to join the American Fighter Aces Reunion. There had been no new fighter ace in almost 30 years, and we had our first reunion in San Antonio when Willy and I came back from Vietnam. And the press came up to me and said, ``Duke, how do you feel about joining Joe Foss and Pappy Boyington and Chuck Yeager and all these different guys?'' And General Yeager was there. And the press guy said, look, if you and General Yeager would get into a dog fight, who would win? He wanted me to put down General Yeager. My answer was, ``General Yeager is not only a test pilot and a fighter pilot and a combat pilot, but he has done a million things I have not ever done before. So I would basically not answer his question. But after the press guy left, I looked at Chuck and said, ``General Yeager, I'll meet you at 15,000 feet and I'll have your donkey.'' And his immediate response was, ``Bring it on, Duke,'' which you would expect from General Yeager. So this is one of the all-time greats that have contributed not just to combat aviation, but when you look at the first man to go supersonic, the first man in the X1 and the X1-A that set speed records of over 1600 miles an hour, he is right up there.”